A couple of months ago I started to notice something.... I wasn't sure what it was at the time. As time has gone by it has been coming more and more into focus. At first I thought it was just me. Am I the only one noticing these things? Or am I just viewing things differently now? I realized that I was not the only one noticing these things. Also I think in part that God is continuing to change me and mold me more and more into the likeness of His son. What I was noticing were things happening and changing across society at large and things being exposed that were once hidden. All of these things pertained to how we viewed God and whether we were submitted to His will and not our own.
The release of the abortion videos has frighteningly been largely a ho hum for many. Most people who support abortion have not even bothered to watch them and think they are just conspiratorial lies. Christians mostly have been totally appalled at the depth of the depravity to which we have fallen. Unfortunately there seem to be some Christians who fall into the former group and not the latter. It has further divided people and made harder their positions in most cases. It is a situation that God cares a great deal about, and has judged nations over.
Then we had Donald Trump come on the scene. His big entrance included some strong words on immigration. People have further divided on this issue, but in this instance, it seems to have made people reverse course and go against what they had previously supported. It also revealed more openly the hatred people hold in their heart for those who differ with them. People have had horrible and yet superficial reactions to Trump. He's just the facilitator as that would have come out at some point anyway, and has. Whether people realize it or not, how we treat foreigners, strangers, and immigrants is very important to God. I don't think either side has even considered that, nor when confronted with it seem to care very much. Again, this was just another point exposed where people had to make a choice. This too is an area where God has judged nations over.
We had the gay marriage ruling in June that has now come to the point where the government is now jailing Christians for their beliefs in God. This was a day long warned about but that most people felt assured would never come about. How is two same sex people getting married supposed to affect anyone else? It's their private business. Except now we have Christians having their businesses, homes, livelihoods, and now even their freedom taken away as a result of this ruling. This subject is even splitting the church as some denominations have become false religions that seem more interested in the lust of the flesh than the will of God. It has completely finished removing us from our foundations on Godly principles with the judge jailing the clerk for her faith saying that it would be a bad precedent to allow Gods law to supersede the will of the court. So we now have it declared that Government is above God. Problem is, people are buying that argument. Not surprising though since we are now in the 3rd full generation raised without the Bible or prayers being taught that we are just animals that sprang up accidentally from some prehistoric soup cocktail.
Now more than ever before I feel this next election is not just about who our next leaders will be, but about whether we will accept or reject God. Frankly, I think it is our last chance based on what I am seeing with God exposing all of the evils for everyone to see and forcing people to take a stand one way or another, for or against Yahweh.
The silence of the Christian too may be seen as complicity in these things as well. We not only have to just give lip service to our convictions in the Lord, but also stand up for what we believe with actions. We need to speak out what we believe to a lost and crumbling nation. We need to not fear what they may say or do to us, for if God be for us, who can be against us? Now more than ever we need to be obedient to the word of God and set the example for others, even if it means jail or worse. Again I hearken back to Esther, who knows if we were not put here for a time such as this?
The agenda of the evil one has been laid bare. We have been given notice. Choose this day who you are going to serve. Will it be the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob, the Creator of the universe? Or will you reject that path and take your own route or that of another god? Wide is the path that leads to destruction, and narrow is the way that leads to life. Jesus says I am the way, the truth, and the life. no man comes to the father but by me. You show that be being obedient to Him. Jesus also says, if you love me, keep my commandments, not do as thou wilt.
Judgment is coming. God is still in control. At this very moment He is working in the world and preparing His way. We are either for him or against him. It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of an angry God. We ought to obey God rather than men.
Showing posts with label judgement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label judgement. Show all posts
2015/09/05
2015/07/19
A Time Such As This
Esther 4:14
For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
The story of Esther is one of the most dramatic books in all of scripture. The story of Jewish girl taken by force to be part of the Kings harem to choose a new bride from who is chosen to be queen. Dire circumstances fell and increased government persecution of Gods people came to a boiling point when a descendent of a former enemy of the Jews gains power and influence and tries to have all the Jews put to death. Esther must then use her position, defy the formal protocols of the land, possible facing death as a result to stand up and make it be known to the king exactly what was up.
The above verse came at the time when she was being asked to stand up for Gods people and proclaim the truth, even if it meant her demise. We today are facing hard times. While we are not yet at the point of being annihilated, we are at the point of having our ability to live and express our faith openly taken away. The full force of government is being used to try and make us go against our God with the threat of loss of property, livelihood, family. We are regularly ridiculed and lied about, demonized by those who wish to silence us.
Looming in the backdrop of all this is an old enemy of Christendom; Islam. For 1400 years those who follow Mohamed have been venturing on a quest for world domination and the extermination of Christians and Jews. Unbelievers here side with them and give them favored status, while attacking and removing all symbols and remembrances of Christendom from our national memory.
In modern memory we can still look back and see what happened in Germany to the Jews and see very eerie similarities to what is starting to take place in the US. The German government too gave favored status to Muslims while attacking and removing anything Jewish from German memory. They, like has begun here, were being made as the scapegoats. All that was wrong could be placed squarely on Gods people and if only they were not there, we could evolve into the great human utopian era.
Now is the time for believers to stand up and proclaim the truth of God to the nation and to the world. It is time we stand up and live our beliefs faithfully and recommit ourselves to do that which God wills us to do. It is time to stand up and call out the evildoers and expose what they are doing. For if we remain silent at this time, God will raise up those voices elsewhere and we will not be spared. Who knows whether we have been placed here for a time such as this?
For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
The story of Esther is one of the most dramatic books in all of scripture. The story of Jewish girl taken by force to be part of the Kings harem to choose a new bride from who is chosen to be queen. Dire circumstances fell and increased government persecution of Gods people came to a boiling point when a descendent of a former enemy of the Jews gains power and influence and tries to have all the Jews put to death. Esther must then use her position, defy the formal protocols of the land, possible facing death as a result to stand up and make it be known to the king exactly what was up.
The above verse came at the time when she was being asked to stand up for Gods people and proclaim the truth, even if it meant her demise. We today are facing hard times. While we are not yet at the point of being annihilated, we are at the point of having our ability to live and express our faith openly taken away. The full force of government is being used to try and make us go against our God with the threat of loss of property, livelihood, family. We are regularly ridiculed and lied about, demonized by those who wish to silence us.
Looming in the backdrop of all this is an old enemy of Christendom; Islam. For 1400 years those who follow Mohamed have been venturing on a quest for world domination and the extermination of Christians and Jews. Unbelievers here side with them and give them favored status, while attacking and removing all symbols and remembrances of Christendom from our national memory.
In modern memory we can still look back and see what happened in Germany to the Jews and see very eerie similarities to what is starting to take place in the US. The German government too gave favored status to Muslims while attacking and removing anything Jewish from German memory. They, like has begun here, were being made as the scapegoats. All that was wrong could be placed squarely on Gods people and if only they were not there, we could evolve into the great human utopian era.
Now is the time for believers to stand up and proclaim the truth of God to the nation and to the world. It is time we stand up and live our beliefs faithfully and recommit ourselves to do that which God wills us to do. It is time to stand up and call out the evildoers and expose what they are doing. For if we remain silent at this time, God will raise up those voices elsewhere and we will not be spared. Who knows whether we have been placed here for a time such as this?
2015/06/04
Why is the Bruce Jenner Story Important?
Ephesians 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
In recent days and weeks we have been bombarded with the story of Bruce Jenner becoming now Caitlin Jenner. His story as a transgender is being heralded throughout all of the media. He is receiving awards for his heroism in being so public about his transformation from a man to a woman. He is promoted as a hero to be followed and emulated. It's a long cry from the box of Wheaties and the decathlon victory for which he was once heralded.
Many people ask the question about this story, why should we care? What is the big deal? Aren't there more important things going on in the world? Well this is a big deal. We should care about this story. It is something very important in the world. I know people will be thinking, c'mon, really? Yes really.
This nation was founded upon and operated under the general principles that were found in the Bible. People like to argue that point, but the evidence is too overwhelming to deny it. This creates a problem for some people. They don't want to live their lives under those principles and would rather live some other way. Probably the most vocal and outspoken of those folks would be your LGBT and whatever other initials you can add to talk about sexuality that goes against what God has said in his word. They can't have the nation with its morals based on something that says what they do is sinful and wrong.
So, you must go about changing the culture and moving it away from those biblical principles. This began in the 60s when Bibles and prayers were removed from the school systems. Now people would no longer be educated on those Biblical principles and they can began exchanging those morals for "newer more modern thinking".
Within a decade, the sexual revolution had begun. A whole generation was set out into early adulthood without those old fashioned principles binding them in any way. Free love and sexual experimentation were the order of the day, in direct conflict with what God says in His word. Homosexuality was taken off the mental disorder list as a first step towards its "normalcy" and away from it being "sinful" (along with other sexual activity).
Later years the fight was for acceptance of the gays. They wanted to be recognized as legitimate and not seen as awful sinners. This was easier to do with a population becoming less and less knowledgeable of Gods word. After another decade, being gay wasn't really seen as such a bad thing. It was just a lifestyle choice. The measure of what was good or right was no longer the Bible, but just generally about what people thought was right.
There was a little setback in the 80s with the onset of AIDS and a slight return to more Christian values with a bit of a revival. Many saw the AIDS epidemic as a direct punishment from God upon the sinful ways of the homosexual. Certainly it can be said that the consequences of the lifestyle that was being led by many of them made them much more susceptible to the disease. AIDS was turned around though and really became the most socially acceptable deadly disease ever. A strong campaign was waged to shift people away from that thinking. Instead of pointing out the sinful activity, the focus became "practicing safe gay sex". Condom use became promoted as the cure all, even though it was useless in prevention.
Another decade goes by and then comes the final push for "normalcy" of the sinful homosexual lifestyle. The fight for gay marriage began; a drive to redefine what had been considered a Biblical god centered union of a man and woman was now being challenged. The past two decades have been spent trying to undermine holy matrimony and moving it away from a union of a man and woman making a vow before God to merely a state sponsored contract between two persons.
The whole time this has gone on, the argument has been about redefining morality so that their activities would no longer be seen as something bad, but as something good. In the process, what has happened is that to do this they had to make the ones who hold to the Biblical standard as the bad guys. They have to hold the view that the entire foundation of morality that we based this country on was bad, wrong, and needed to be changed. Also, those that held to those views were to be looked at as the new evil people.
This brings us to where we are today with a 70 year old former male athlete getting all kinds of press, and a TV show, and awards given to Jenner. Why? Because the media is celebrating and promoting the new morality, the morality they want of the nation. they are wanting a promoting a morality that goes against God, and against what He stands for. And this takes us back to the verse I quoted at the beginning of this article, Ephesians 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
It is really the same argument we saw Satan use in the Garden of Eden back in the book of Genesis; Hath God said? You won't surely die. Behind all of this, and unknown to even many of those involved, are Satan and his demons. It has always been his agenda to undermine God in any way he could. The United States has for most of it's history been recognized by the principles under which they lived found in the Word of God. Now we are falling under the wrath of God for our movement away from those principles.
We recently found out why the terrorists hate us so much. Osama Bin Ladens papers were released and he told us why he hates the US. One of the reasons he hated the west so much is because of its acceptance of gays. He attacked civilians because we voted in leaders that allowed homosexuality to become normalized. It wasn't the only grievance, but it was front and center. He hated the US because we had moved away from those Biblical principles for which we once stood. He was punishing us for our sins, sins clearly spelled out in the Bible.
We spend all this time concerned over offending the terrorists because of pictures being drawn, or TV shows showing the prophet, or some other such silly thing. We think we can appease them this way, but what it turns out is that to appease them really means that we need to return to the ways of God spelled out in the Holy Bible. We need to stop promoting sin and glorifying sin. This is why this Bruce Jenner transgender story is so important. Bruce/Caitlin is now that face of the morality being shopped out by America.
This is a main reason we have terror troubles. We are promoting sinful lifestyles and trying to get other peoples of the world to live sinfully also. How repulsive it must be for our leaders to be heard in many parts of the world calling for the acceptance and promotion of lifestyles that many find repugnant and evil. This is why we are called the great Satan, because we are promoting satanic ways. What is a Muslim, or Jew, or devout Christian to think when they see a pop magazine cover pasted with images of a man who is trying to be a woman? Given awards on national TV because he doesn't know what sex he is? Starring in a TV reality show that glorifies this perversion?
Those of us who are serious believers need to take these things very seriously and get down on our knees, begging Gods forgiveness. God writes, 2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. We need to clean up our houses and be the shining examples of what Godly people are and what they stand for. Then we need to take that message out. It is the only way, and the only chance we have, now, before further judgement comes. What we have seen with attacks, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, droughts, riots, unrest, and all the rest are just warnings meant to bring us to repentance before God fully removes His hand of protection from us.
This is why the Bruce Jenner news is important.
In recent days and weeks we have been bombarded with the story of Bruce Jenner becoming now Caitlin Jenner. His story as a transgender is being heralded throughout all of the media. He is receiving awards for his heroism in being so public about his transformation from a man to a woman. He is promoted as a hero to be followed and emulated. It's a long cry from the box of Wheaties and the decathlon victory for which he was once heralded.
Many people ask the question about this story, why should we care? What is the big deal? Aren't there more important things going on in the world? Well this is a big deal. We should care about this story. It is something very important in the world. I know people will be thinking, c'mon, really? Yes really.
This nation was founded upon and operated under the general principles that were found in the Bible. People like to argue that point, but the evidence is too overwhelming to deny it. This creates a problem for some people. They don't want to live their lives under those principles and would rather live some other way. Probably the most vocal and outspoken of those folks would be your LGBT and whatever other initials you can add to talk about sexuality that goes against what God has said in his word. They can't have the nation with its morals based on something that says what they do is sinful and wrong.
So, you must go about changing the culture and moving it away from those biblical principles. This began in the 60s when Bibles and prayers were removed from the school systems. Now people would no longer be educated on those Biblical principles and they can began exchanging those morals for "newer more modern thinking".
Within a decade, the sexual revolution had begun. A whole generation was set out into early adulthood without those old fashioned principles binding them in any way. Free love and sexual experimentation were the order of the day, in direct conflict with what God says in His word. Homosexuality was taken off the mental disorder list as a first step towards its "normalcy" and away from it being "sinful" (along with other sexual activity).
Later years the fight was for acceptance of the gays. They wanted to be recognized as legitimate and not seen as awful sinners. This was easier to do with a population becoming less and less knowledgeable of Gods word. After another decade, being gay wasn't really seen as such a bad thing. It was just a lifestyle choice. The measure of what was good or right was no longer the Bible, but just generally about what people thought was right.
There was a little setback in the 80s with the onset of AIDS and a slight return to more Christian values with a bit of a revival. Many saw the AIDS epidemic as a direct punishment from God upon the sinful ways of the homosexual. Certainly it can be said that the consequences of the lifestyle that was being led by many of them made them much more susceptible to the disease. AIDS was turned around though and really became the most socially acceptable deadly disease ever. A strong campaign was waged to shift people away from that thinking. Instead of pointing out the sinful activity, the focus became "practicing safe gay sex". Condom use became promoted as the cure all, even though it was useless in prevention.
Another decade goes by and then comes the final push for "normalcy" of the sinful homosexual lifestyle. The fight for gay marriage began; a drive to redefine what had been considered a Biblical god centered union of a man and woman was now being challenged. The past two decades have been spent trying to undermine holy matrimony and moving it away from a union of a man and woman making a vow before God to merely a state sponsored contract between two persons.
The whole time this has gone on, the argument has been about redefining morality so that their activities would no longer be seen as something bad, but as something good. In the process, what has happened is that to do this they had to make the ones who hold to the Biblical standard as the bad guys. They have to hold the view that the entire foundation of morality that we based this country on was bad, wrong, and needed to be changed. Also, those that held to those views were to be looked at as the new evil people.
This brings us to where we are today with a 70 year old former male athlete getting all kinds of press, and a TV show, and awards given to Jenner. Why? Because the media is celebrating and promoting the new morality, the morality they want of the nation. they are wanting a promoting a morality that goes against God, and against what He stands for. And this takes us back to the verse I quoted at the beginning of this article, Ephesians 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
It is really the same argument we saw Satan use in the Garden of Eden back in the book of Genesis; Hath God said? You won't surely die. Behind all of this, and unknown to even many of those involved, are Satan and his demons. It has always been his agenda to undermine God in any way he could. The United States has for most of it's history been recognized by the principles under which they lived found in the Word of God. Now we are falling under the wrath of God for our movement away from those principles.
We recently found out why the terrorists hate us so much. Osama Bin Ladens papers were released and he told us why he hates the US. One of the reasons he hated the west so much is because of its acceptance of gays. He attacked civilians because we voted in leaders that allowed homosexuality to become normalized. It wasn't the only grievance, but it was front and center. He hated the US because we had moved away from those Biblical principles for which we once stood. He was punishing us for our sins, sins clearly spelled out in the Bible.
We spend all this time concerned over offending the terrorists because of pictures being drawn, or TV shows showing the prophet, or some other such silly thing. We think we can appease them this way, but what it turns out is that to appease them really means that we need to return to the ways of God spelled out in the Holy Bible. We need to stop promoting sin and glorifying sin. This is why this Bruce Jenner transgender story is so important. Bruce/Caitlin is now that face of the morality being shopped out by America.
This is a main reason we have terror troubles. We are promoting sinful lifestyles and trying to get other peoples of the world to live sinfully also. How repulsive it must be for our leaders to be heard in many parts of the world calling for the acceptance and promotion of lifestyles that many find repugnant and evil. This is why we are called the great Satan, because we are promoting satanic ways. What is a Muslim, or Jew, or devout Christian to think when they see a pop magazine cover pasted with images of a man who is trying to be a woman? Given awards on national TV because he doesn't know what sex he is? Starring in a TV reality show that glorifies this perversion?
Those of us who are serious believers need to take these things very seriously and get down on our knees, begging Gods forgiveness. God writes, 2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. We need to clean up our houses and be the shining examples of what Godly people are and what they stand for. Then we need to take that message out. It is the only way, and the only chance we have, now, before further judgement comes. What we have seen with attacks, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, droughts, riots, unrest, and all the rest are just warnings meant to bring us to repentance before God fully removes His hand of protection from us.
This is why the Bruce Jenner news is important.
2014/08/31
Drama in the Weather
I suppose the world of weather is not unlike the rest of the world. There are always people ready to criticize, ready to pounce on an error, ready to believe that their own knowledge or skill is superior to that of another, and that others don't know what they are talking about. Maybe it is just a sign of the times, or of the upcoming generation, but it feels like that this is getting worse and worse as time goes along.
In the weather world, this sort of criticism is far more critical. People get upset because a forecast did not occur exactly as predicted in their driveway. It doesn't matter that the forecast was right for the region and occurred exactly as expected, if that rain did not fall on their yard, you are an idiot. Most of these types of people really don't know anything about the weather to begin with. They don't understand that predicting the future isn't exactly easy.
The ones that are worst though are those folks who think they know something. Well, they do know something about weather and have experience and training, but, they don't seem to think they have the same predictive limitations that face us all.
About a week and a half ago, for example, someone had made a report to the local weather service office of observing a rotating wall cloud. Another amateur meteorologist jumped all over the report and ridiculed the person because they thought the conditions were such that this would not happen. They figured it had to be some idiot who had no clue what he was looking at made an erroneous report. Oh and did the people pile on their FB post all piling on the stupid person who made that report. There was one problem with this... The person who made the report was correct. I had observed and filmed it prior to the report.
There also seems to be a rigidity in folks that expects other people to be perfect. Good example happened to me last night. I was going through weather data for the upcoming weekend and based on what I had observed and read put out my forecast. Within a number of minutes I was getting more feedback on that one post than I had gotten in weeks of correct forecasts. One of the pages I was getting info from had not fully updated their information when I viewed it so I saw two days of weather information that was supposed to be one. It was changed after I had viewed and gone over the info. Ooops, I goofed (or they did), and the forecast 3 days out was wrong.
That one minor and correctable error brought people out of the woodwork with criticism. Why? People are so quick to criticize others while excusing themselves. People need to recognize their own imperfection and extend the same courtesy of excuse to others that they claim for themselves. It is a principle that extends beyond weather and into every facet of life.
Jesus Christ had put it this way in Luke 6:31 And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. I don't think most people like to be criticized, or made fun of, or have the inevitable mistakes pounced on. I think we would like people to gently point out and/or correct our errors, be forgiving of the gaffs we may make, and to be praised for the good work we do. What a monumental world changing thing it would be if people would follow that one simple verse.
In the weather world, this sort of criticism is far more critical. People get upset because a forecast did not occur exactly as predicted in their driveway. It doesn't matter that the forecast was right for the region and occurred exactly as expected, if that rain did not fall on their yard, you are an idiot. Most of these types of people really don't know anything about the weather to begin with. They don't understand that predicting the future isn't exactly easy.
The ones that are worst though are those folks who think they know something. Well, they do know something about weather and have experience and training, but, they don't seem to think they have the same predictive limitations that face us all.
About a week and a half ago, for example, someone had made a report to the local weather service office of observing a rotating wall cloud. Another amateur meteorologist jumped all over the report and ridiculed the person because they thought the conditions were such that this would not happen. They figured it had to be some idiot who had no clue what he was looking at made an erroneous report. Oh and did the people pile on their FB post all piling on the stupid person who made that report. There was one problem with this... The person who made the report was correct. I had observed and filmed it prior to the report.
There also seems to be a rigidity in folks that expects other people to be perfect. Good example happened to me last night. I was going through weather data for the upcoming weekend and based on what I had observed and read put out my forecast. Within a number of minutes I was getting more feedback on that one post than I had gotten in weeks of correct forecasts. One of the pages I was getting info from had not fully updated their information when I viewed it so I saw two days of weather information that was supposed to be one. It was changed after I had viewed and gone over the info. Ooops, I goofed (or they did), and the forecast 3 days out was wrong.
That one minor and correctable error brought people out of the woodwork with criticism. Why? People are so quick to criticize others while excusing themselves. People need to recognize their own imperfection and extend the same courtesy of excuse to others that they claim for themselves. It is a principle that extends beyond weather and into every facet of life.
Jesus Christ had put it this way in Luke 6:31 And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. I don't think most people like to be criticized, or made fun of, or have the inevitable mistakes pounced on. I think we would like people to gently point out and/or correct our errors, be forgiving of the gaffs we may make, and to be praised for the good work we do. What a monumental world changing thing it would be if people would follow that one simple verse.
2014/02/19
Does the Church have it Backwards?
Colossians 2: 16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.
Most of the time when people use this verse, they are generally making the case that we are no longer under the law, that the law has been done away with, and that we therefore no longer have to be obedient to what God has said through the law. But, is this what the passage is really saying?
I propose that it may be saying just the opposite of what most people use it for. It may just be saying to let no man judge you for KEEPING the Sabbath and FOLLOWING the dietary commands, or using the Jewish calendar to denote holy days and keeping them. Some of the biggest debates in Christendom surround the idea that we need to be obedient to the whole Bible.
Many Christians today have been taught that they no longer have to do what the bible says to do because certain parts of the Bible have been done away with. Is this so? Christians often use the previous verses to substantiate their claims.
13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
The argument is that the OT laws
were blotted out. The truth is, what was
blotted out was the penalty for violation of Gods commands. Jesus himself said, Matthew 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
That fulfilling was His substitutionary death in our stead. In no way were any of Gods commands declared
null and void.
this easy believism and grace without responsibility is what has watered down the churches message. It has destroyed the witness of Christians. Rather than being separated from the world through obedience to God, the church has become part of the world, nearly indistinguishable from unbelievers. The rates of sin within the church are just as high, if not higher, than outside.
There is no more fear of Yahweh in believers any longer. The salt has lost its savor and is being trodden under foot. Every vestige of our heritage as Christians is being removed from society. Over the last 50 years God has been removed from nearly every institution. Where have the Christians been?
Believers! It is time to repent and return unto the way of the Lord. Time is short and the harvest is ripe. Turn away from the lie of grace as a license and do as thou wilt churchianity. It is time to submit yourself to do what God has commanded you to do. We serve a might God, not the other way around. God is not our magic genie to make us feel all warm and fuzzy and give us the things we want. We are His servants who are to do as HE commands of us. Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
2014/01/14
Prosperity or Persecution?
Recently, I posted a praise report on my Facebook page. It read as follows: I was going shopping at Wal-mart this evening. Before I got in the parking lot, I thought I heard God say he'd save me a front row spot, in an aisle where I would be facing away from the store. So, I go in the lot a few minutes later. I'm rolling along slowly, stopping to let people and other cars by, crossed the whole store to the far exit when right then, someone pulls out of the first spot, and I rolled right in. That's not all. In the store, I got the first cashier with nobody in line while the other lines were into the aisles. I zipped right through. That's not all. I got permission to go to McDonalds. When I went to the store, it was packed. When I stopped on the way back, not a single car in the drive thru. This is rush hour mind you, the whole time. And people laughed at John Osteen for saying God saves us parking spots. We serve a great and mighty God.
It certainly did not take long to hear some chime in with the negative. I heard about how we were only promised suffering in life. I heard about how if we are not being chastised by God, that we must not be His. I heard about how we are not blessed in material ways in this life. I heard about how God is not our magic genie to make our lives all comfy. Why is it so hard for people to accept the idea that at times, God may choose to bless His children with good things? And why would a praise report about the goodness of God make people react as if you have uttered some profanity? Maybe it was the Osteen reference, but I dealt with that issue on my last blog.
All throughout the Bible, we see the promises of blessing on those who believed. A quick perusal of the Book of Proverbs will quickly show this. Proverbs 10: 4 He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich. Is that not a promise from God? There are many more in this book and the other 65 books to be found. Mathew 7: 11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? If God knows the very number of the hairs on your head, don’t you think he would be intimately involved in your daily goings on?
On the other hand, we also see throughout the bible men being tested, scorned, and persecuted. Look at what Joseph went through, and Job, and Jesus himself. We can cite a number of examples where we are told to shun riches and worldly things and look to spiritual things. Mathew 6: 19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Numbers of other examples can be found.
It seems to happen that people run to the extremes. Some will solely focus on teaching only prosperity and leave out the suffering. Others will focus on the suffering and forget about the blessings. Each of those extremes will miss out on what the real message is. You won’t handle suffering well if you think God only blesses, and you will pass on great blessings if you think this life is only about suffering. Neither one is the full council of God.
The truth is that there is a balance. When we submit ourselves to god, we are His to do with as He so pleases. If it pleases Him to bless us, we are so blessed. If it pleases Him to try us, we are so blessed, for we know that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. (Rom 8:28) I close with these words from Ecclesiastics 3
1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
9 What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?
10 I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.
11 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.
12 I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life.
13 And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.
14 I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.
2014/01/05
Loving or Judging?
I John3: 4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
5 And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.
6 Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.
7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
These verses were presented in an article I read this week. At first it disturbed me a little. The author was saying essentially that if you sin, you are not saved because if you were saved, you would not sin. This is really a disturbing message for many Christians. At least to me it was disturbing. Why? Because we all still sin.
The argument then goes, “they will continue to sin but they won’t make a pattern of it, but if a person continues to sin, then they were never saved in the first place.” If that were the case; if everyone who was truly saved was not even capable of sinning, then why would John write earlier in chapter 1 on I John, v9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If a Christian never sins, what would they need to confess?
Now I am not arguing that a Christian can just go ahead and sin. Paul asks the question, Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? (Romans 6:1) “God, forbid” was the answer. Much of Romans 6 continues about how we are dead to sin and won’t continue therein. But in verse 7 we find out that we still do sin, even intentionally, knowingly, willfully.
Romans 7: 14 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.
16 If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:
23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
So what of the I John 3 verses? They seem to say we won’t sin if we are truly saved. Don’t they contradict what Paul is saying here in Romans? Not at all. Look at verse 15 of Romans 7; but what I hate, that do I. Often a Christian will sin, even willingly and knowingly, but the pleasure of it is not there. A Christian will feel guilty. They will feel remorse, sorrow in their sin. They will recognize the wrong. Going back to I John 1:9, we will confess our sins and be forgiven and cleansed from all unrighteousness.
The key to what is being talked about in Chapter 3 is the condition of the heart. If one is sinning, and they enjoy it, feel no remorse over it, and plan to do it again for their own amusement, then we could say that they would not be abiding in Christ. Such a person would also have no desire to do what God says is right. They will create for themselves a God that excuses their behavior. A God of love who doesn’t condemn anyone.
I write about this because I want to encourage others. Young believers especially can have their faith shaken by such proclamations as Christians won’t ever sin if they are true Christians. Immediately they begin to doubt their salvation because it is impossible for us to live sinless, even after being saved. The real danger is when we no longer or don’t even care if our actions are sinful or not.
We as believers also have to remember what Jesus taught, Luke 6:37 Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven. Mathew 6:14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: John 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
We would do much better loving one another.
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